Crackers are Boring! 8 Great Cracker-Free Cheese Pairings

Editor's note: It's been a few years since we wrote about crackers that go with cheese. At that time, we learned that contributor Christine Clark was anything but a cracker fan, so we promised her a forum for her anti-cracker manifesto.

It’s not hard to understand why most cheese boards include crackers. They’re not as perishable as bread. They don’t clash with anything. They don’t take up much room. No one’s going to be mad about crackers on a cheese board. But since when has our primary metric for successful cheeseboards been “No one’s mad at it?"

Crackers may not clash with anything, but they rarely make a splash either. They provide a crunchy vehicle for cheese, but they do little to enhance the experience. Some of the more popular varieties, such as wafer crackers or petit toasts, shatter at the mere suggestion of a firm cheese slice. What if our cheese vessels added to the (literal and figurative) party? What if we approached our cheese vessel choice like a pairing?

Principles of Cheese Pairing

As with any pairing, you want one plus one to equal three. The same principles that we use to pair wine and cheese can be used to pair cheese with a snacky vessel.

Like with like

Bringing two similar flavors together makes a pairing even more memorable. Think a fresh goat cheese, with bright citrusy notes, atop lemon shortbread.

Opposites attract

Choosing a pairing based on contrast allows some of the more secondary flavors in the cheese to shine. In a way, the aforementioned fresh goat cheese + shortbread pairing could also be considered an opposites attract pairing: the salty tang of the cheese is offset by the sweet grainy flavors of the shortbread.

Terroir

If you’re enjoying a cheese that has been made in one region of the world for hundreds of years, what do locals enjoy with said cheese? For instance, Ossau Iraty, an iconic sheep milk cheese from the Pyrenees, is typically served with black cherry jam from the same region. Even if you don’t have the jam from that region, what if you found a sturdy cherry fruit leather instead?

Texture

Keep the texture of both the cheese and the vessel in mind when it comes to your pairing. For instance, I love contrasting soft buttery cheeses with a crisp cookie (another reason I love fresh goat cheese with lemon shortbread).

Sometimes we say that balance is the goal in a pairing. At a 101-level, that is true. If one flavor overpowers another, it’s probably not a great pairing. But, even more than that, enjoyment is the goal of pairings. The fun thing about eschewing crackers is that it allows you to be more playful with the foods that you think go with cheese, allowing for you to make the cheeseboard feel even more like you.

As someone who personally and professionally enjoys cheese, please understand that I’m not suggesting that your next cheeseboard should be cracker-free. If you love a certain kind of cracker, you should use it (when I’m digging into cheese at home, there’s a 90% chance that Triscuits are involved).

I’m just suggesting we bring a little more mindfulness to our cheese boards. Here are a few pairings to start with.

8 Great Cracker Free Pairings

Laura Chenel Fresh Goat Cheese + salt and vinegar potato chips

Laura Chenel Fresh Goat Cheese and Salt and vinegar potato chips

This is a like-with-like pairing for those who relished Warheads and other sour candy as kids. It’s a one-two punch of sourness and salt, with the crispy chip contrasting with the fluffy, chalky goat cheese. Any goat cheese will do for this pairing, but the more local options tend to have a fluffier texture that I love in this application.

St. Stephen + dark chocolate raspberry squares

This pairing can work with any fruity chocolate, really, but I love the size of these Ghiradelli squares (i.e. exactly the right size for a piece of this cheese!), and the jam in the middle of the chocolate squares. St. Stephen’s buttery flavor makes the chocolate even more desserty.

Epoisses + a good baguette

Epoisses and baguette — Epoisses + baguette

I never said I was against things with wheat in them! In fact, the glorious yeastiness of Epoisses plays beautifully with a masterfully-made baguette. When the cheese is on the riper side, it oozes into the bubbly crevices of the bread and there is really nothing more magical.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve + dried papaya

Truthfully, my favorite snack vessel approach to firmer cheeses is using the cheese as the “cracker,” with something delicious on top. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, made with impeccably farmed, pasture-grazed milk, can vary in flavor profiles, but often has notes of tropical fruit. Dried papaya is a great way to play those up.

Shelburne Farms 6-month Cheddar + pretzels

Shelburne Farms 6 Month Cheddar and pretzels photo credit Sarah Webb

Any younger cheddar will work for this, but the brown butter notes of Shelburne’s cheddar—thanks, Brown Swiss cows!—feel especially elegant with the malty grainy flavor of the pretzels. I tend to use the cheese as the “cracker,” with the pretzel atop it, but you can use the pretzel as the cracker if you prefer. I tend to just use whichever pretzels are easiest to find, but a honey whole wheat option will add even more dimension to this pairing.

DOP Manchego 1605 + membrillo

I may think crackers are boring on a cheese board, but that doesn’t mean I’m against the classics! Just use a piece of Manchego as your cracker, with the membrillo on top. The rich honey-like sweetness of the membrillo sets off any musky sheepiness in the cheese in a charming way.

Comté + crunchy peanut butter

This is my favorite “I woke up late but I have a long day ahead and need something quick, delicious, and protein-rich to eat” breakfast. The hazelnutty steamed-milk of young Comté (4-6 months) in particular is especially great with the richness of the peanut butter. And, the less fancy the peanut butter you use for this, the better.

Roquefort + gingersnaps

I love this pairing for many reasons. It works well from a contrast perspective—the savory-to-the-hundredth-power character of the Roquefort is smoothed out a bit by the sweetness of the cookie—but it also works well from a like-with-like perspective. The spicier the gingersnap you use, the more the spiciness of the blue mold will feel reasonable, even for those who aren’t the biggest fans of blue cheese. I’ve converted many, many blue cheese haters with this one. Throw on a bit of candied ginger if you want to be really extra.

Crackers are Boring on a Cheese Board! 8 Great Cracker-Free Cheese Pairings